The Moon Rises

I wandered the dark and quiet halls of the palace, each step I made echoing softly in the silence. I came to a window and gazed up at my beautiful moon.

"How can they stand to lock themselves away?" I asked my moon as she silently shone above me. "How can they deny themselves this beautiful sight?"

I received no reply from the celestial orb. I sighed and turned away, continuing down the hall. I loved this time- the time when all the world was quiet and the lights on the wall flickered gently. It was so peaceful. My hooves carried me forward, no real destination in mind as I kept moving. After a few minutes, I found myself in the throne room. I looked at my sister's throne. Why did they all adore Celestia? What did she have that I didn't? And why did I let it continue?

In my mind I saw my subjects as they adored me just as they did my sister. They bowed and smiled before me as I looked down on them from the throne- my throne. No longer was I second to Celestia.

"No more," I said as I stamped my hoof and shook my mane. "I won't be second to her any longer!"

As the words left my mouth, I felt a darkness settle over my heart. With each passing second, I felt it grow bigger and bigger until it consumed me entirely. I would not be Luna any longer-no, now I would be Nightmare Moon.

Empowered by my new revelations and resolve, I strode to the balcony and cast my gaze at the moon.

"You will never be overshadowed again," I said to her. I stayed there for a moment longer before turning and making my way to the throne.

I sat on my throne, holding myself regally as I surveyed the room. Now to wait for Celestia.

I waited for my sister for hours, only my moon keeping me company. I sat on Celestia's- MY- throne and thought about what was coming. I would no longer yield the sky to her sun, and she would spout some nonsense about "disrupting the balance". My sister is many things, but weak is not one of them. She would put up a fight to force me to yield the sky.

"Luna," Celestia's regal voice sounded through the room, "why have you not lowered the moon yet?"

I stayed silent and waited for her to notice the change in me.

"You're not Luna…"

"No, sister," I replied with a smirk as I raised myself up, "I am now Nightmare Moon. And I will no longer yield the sky to you and your sun."

"Why?" Celestia pleaded with me. "Why would you do this and throw out the balance of the world? Day and night are meant to share the sky equally."

"We may have shared the skies equally, sister, but you know as well as I do that we did not share their love equally."

"I don't understand…"

"Of course you don't!" I yelled at her as I leaped out of the throne and made my way down to her. "You were the one they all adored and worshipped. They loved the light of your sun while they shunned my beautiful moon for the last hundred years!"

"But, Luna, they need to sleep-"

"NO! I won't spend another hundred years being second to you. You raise the sun, but I raise the moon and govern the Dream Realm. I'm just as good- no, BETTER than you!" I told her as I turned around and went back to my throne.

"Luna!" Celestia called after me. I halted for a split second. "You have a duty! You have to stop this," she pleaded. "If you don't, I'll be forced to-"

"To what, Celestia?"

"To stop you."

I threw my head back and laughed.

"I'd like to see you try it, sister."

Without any warning, I reared back and fired a spell at her. She retaliated by quickly putting up a protective bubble just in time to save herself.

She didn't fire a spell back at me.

"Don't make me do this, Luna!"

Instead of answering her, I fired off another spell. Just as before, she deflected it but did nothing to retaliate against me. I kept firing spell after spell at her, each with the same result as before.

"FIGHT ME!" I screamed at her in frustration as I fired more and more spells at her. None hit her. Instead, they bounced harmlessly off of her defensive bubble and hit the walls and ceiling of the palace, bringing them crashing to the ground.

Instead of answering me, Celestia launched herself into the sky. I took flight after her, blindly firing spells that she deflected time and again as she kept flying away from me.

I finally managed to land a shot at my sister.

"AAAHHH!" She screamed in pain. Right in the middle of her chest was a smoking dark mark that stood out against her pale white coat.

I watched as she fell, crashing through the walls until she stopped and laid in a broken heap.

"Is that all you've got in you, sister?" I taunted with a cruel laugh as I saw her weakly raise herself to her hooves. "Oh, how I wish your subjects could see you now! Weak and helpless!" I laughed cruelly, taunting my victim as a spider would taunt its helpless prey

A bright light caught my eye.

Celestia was flying back to meet me, her face set in steely resolve.

Around her swirled the Elements of Harmony.

The Elements…

"Those will not save you now, sister," I called to her as I readied another attack. "Nothing can save you."

Celestia said nothing.

I fired my attack.

The Elements fired back at me at the same time.

Our two attacks met in between us. They stopped, locked in a battle of power between Celestia and I as we both tried to gain the upper hand over the other.

I intensified my attack, grunting with the sheer effort of fighting against the Elements. Celestia in turn intensified her attack.

The beam of light where the two powers met inched towards me.

"Luna," I heard her call to me, "I cannot allow you to put the balance of Equestria in jeopardy. I must stop you."

I continued pushing back against her attack- but it still inched closer to me.

"I will use the Elements to imprison you within the moon for the next one thousand years to save Equestria and to save you."

Her power seemed to triple as the words left her mouth.

The beam of light barrelled towards me.

"NNNNNOOOOO!"

I screamed as the beam collided with my body.